Solar powered pond

[indianasolar]

For a long time I have wanted a pond on my hill. The hill is about 100' from the house. (150' from AC power.)
First I need to think about cost.

How much would it cost to run a pond on AC? I know meg drive pump are more efficient then standard AC pumps. But DC motors are usually twice as efficient as AC motors. (Single phase anyway)

How much pump do I need? Who makes a reasonable cost DC pump? I have been looking for just that "pump head" without a motor so that I can add a DC motor to it. Ideally, I would love a nice water fall. But, realistically, a small stream would be easier to do.

Since nothing has been done yet, everything is wide open.

The only thing I know is that I need to put a linear current booster between the panels and the motor. That and bilge pumps are only rated for 2500 hours. That means it may make it a year before it fails.

Thanks for your input,
Indy

[Sunking]

For a long time I have wanted a pond on my hill. The hill is about 100' from the house. (150' from AC power.)
First I need to think about cost.

How much would it cost to run a pond on AC?

Indy not enough info to answer because you have not specified pump size in either VA or HP, and how long it will run. In Indiana you pay about 11-cents per Kwh. So if you run say a 1 HP 5 hours per day will consume roughly 3.7 Kwh or around 40-cent.

[indianasolar]

Numbers

I will be getting a nice pump no matter which way I go.

A PondMaster Mad Drive Pump model - pond mag 24. It uses only 265 Watts to move 2400 gallons per hour. @ the recommended 125 GPH rate per inch of water fall width that is equal to 19 inches. I am sure there is some head loss but a 12 inch wide waterfall would be fine. I would run for at least 10 hours a day. More in the summer and not at all in the winter.

10 hours x 265 watts is only 2650 watt hours. Or maybe $0.30 a day.

The pump costs $200 and the wire is about $75.

Right now a LCB costs $150, DC bilge pump is $125. (Only to last a year!), 150Watt panel - $200 shipped. That is $450 with a pump replacement, Every year!

Let's just say the pump lasts forever! I am still over by $200. $200/$0.30 = 667 days! Or about two years of seasonal use. After that I am working off the panel cost. Another two years.

Let's say the pump lasts the 2500 hours as stated by the manufacturer. 2500 hours/10 hours a day is 250 days. 250 days x $0.30 = $75

That means I loss $50 every 250 days.

If this is going to work I need a longer lasting DC pump or a cheaper DC pump. I will keep looking.

[Sunking]

Indy here is the problem you are challenged with. A solar panel does not produce its rated power. More like 80 to 90% under ideal conditions but only for an hour or so around noon. In the morning and evening maybe 20 or 30%. As the sun gets higher, the more power it will generate. Afternoon the power degrades until sunset. So if you buy a pump that uses say 100 watts, and a 125 watt panel with a current booster. It is only going to work an hour or two each day.

There is a work around and it is pretty simple. Oversize the panel significantly say by a factor of 8 to 10.

[Wy_White_Wolf]

A Shurflo 2088 should put out just as much as a bilge pump and last longer. But it will put out nowhere near the 2400 GPH number of the AC pump your comparing to.

WWW

[Naptown]

Go to Home Depot and price 150' of 12/2 UF with ground.